Verbena hybridaxc3x97tenuisecta. 
xe2x80x98Rap Purxe2x80x99.
The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of verbena, botanically known as Verbena hybridaxc3x97tenuisecta, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name xe2x80x98Rap Purxe2x80x99. The new cultivar is asexually reproduced from vegetative cuttings and tissue culture resulting from the cross of the seed/pod parent Temari Purple (PPAF), a purple commercial linexc3x9798-66-1, a purple with white eye proprietary line that is unnamed and unpatented.
xe2x80x98Rap Purxe2x80x99 is a product of a planned breeding program intended to create new verbena cultivars with purple colored flowers, dark green foliage, vigorous growth and low tailing habit.
The new cultivar was created in 1999 in Gilroy, Calif. and has been asexually reproduced repeatedly by vegetative cuttings and tissue culture in Gilroy, Calif. over a two year period. The plant has also been trialed at Gilroy, Calif., Litchfield, Mich. and Andijk, The Netherlands. The present invention has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive propagations; and this novelty is firmly fixed.